Jonah 4

Chapter context

What is happening in Jonah 4?

mercymissionrepentanceprophetic vocation

Jonah 4 belongs to the closing movement of the book, especially the section often described as Jonah’s anger and God’s final question. Jonah is a prophetic narrative about flight, reluctant witness, repentance in Nineveh, and the scandal of God’s mercy toward enemies. Read this chapter with the wider themes of mercy, mission, and repentance in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. ² And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. ³ Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. ⁴ Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? ⁵ So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. ⁶ And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. ⁷ But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. ⁸ And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. ⁹ And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. ¹⁰ Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: ¹¹ And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Study helps

Glossary

Jonah Person v. 1, 5-6, 8-9: A dove, the son of Amittai of Gath-hepher. He was a prophet of Israel, and predicted the restoration of the ancient boundaries ( 2 Kings 14:25-27 ) of the kingdom.
Tarshish Place v. 2: A Sanscrit or Aryan word, meaning “the sea coast. ” (1. ) One of the “sons” of Javan ( Gen. 10:4 ; 1 Chr. 1:7 ). (2. ) The name of a place which first comes into notice in the days of Solomon. Modern identification: Huelva.
City People v. 5, 11: The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain ( Gen. 4:17 ). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12).
Nineveh Place v. 11: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Nineveh.